In His Memory
by Lionheart22
Summary: After Shepherd's untimely death Tali finds herself thinking back and remembering the man who meant so much to her. Includes Character death but you probably know this already.
1. The Fall

"Captain, You might want to get up here."

"What is it, Joker?" Darryl Shepherd asked.

"That's the thing, Cap'n. I don't know."

"Alright, I'll be right up."

Shepherd rolled out of his bed, one of the few perks to his job as it turned out. Few people who hadn't served on a starship understood how much one started to miss the little things. One of those little things being the ability to sleep in a bed as opposed to a cramped, cold and stuffy sleeper pod. He quickly donned his gear and headed up to the bridge where Joker was assuredly waiting with a wisecrack or two.

"Glad you could join us, sunshine!"

Yep, there it was, Shepherd thought.

"That's funny, so funny that I'll be sure to remember it while I'm making a few tweaks to the air flow to your pod tonight." Shepherd shot back.

"Man, you're mean when you haven't had your coffee." Joker replied.

"So, I've been told. What are we looking at?" Shepherd asked.

"That's the thing, I don't rightly know. Some state of the art vessel, huh? We can stalk a butterfly through a botanical garden but when it comes to telling us exactly who's coming at us we get squat. I bet there's a Turian somewhere getting a hoot out of this." Joker growled.

"Well, are they friendly?" Shepherd asked.

"That is the million dollar question, isn't it? But who are we kidding? We're in Geth space light-years from the nearest friendly forces and we've got a blip coming at us full tear and they don't even bother to send us a ping or a hail." Joker replied.

"Well, looks like we better give them a reason to remember this visit, shouldn't we? Battle Stations, Joker." Shepherd ordered.

"Aye, sir. All hands at full alert. This is not a drill! I repeat this is NOT a drill! You know where you have to be, so get there! Double time!" Joker spoke into the intercom.

"That's goo-" Shepherd started as a large explosion rocked the ship.

"What the hell was that?"

"I don't know but I'm reading red lines on all our major systems." Joker replied.

"What have we got?" Shepherd.

"Almost nothing. Comms are up and so is Life Support for now but that's it. We've lost sensors, weapons, propulsion. Captain, we're dead in the water!" Joker stammered, letting panic seep in for once.

At that exact moment another explosion rocked the ship.

"Captain, I'm reading breaches all over the ship. Captain, we're running out of time."

"How much time, Joker?"

"We've got maybe five minutes tops before we lose compression completely." Joker answered.

"Call it, Joker. Party's over, we're leaving." Shepherd ordered.

"All hands abandon ship! I repeat, all hands abandon ship." Joker announced over the ship's PA.

"It's done. I'm diverting every ounce of juice I can to the comms. I hope it'll be enough to make sure someone hears us."

"Good, you've done enough. You're officially relieved of duty, find yourself an escape pod and get out of here." Shepherd informed Joker.

"You're kidding, right? Even on the best of days getting around is a challenge in and of itself. With the ship falling apart even attempting to make it to the pods is an exercise in futility." Joker shot back.

"Lieutenant, I don't recall ever mentioning that was a request. I am not going to let you just give up because of some perceived need to go down with this ship. I am ordering you to get your ass into one of those escape pods and live. I will stuff you in there myself if I have to, even if it means I have to break every bone in your body." Shepherd ordered.

"Aye, aye, captain. Hey, where are you going?" Joker replied.

"I'm going to save my crew, lieutenant."

* * *

"She's going critical."

"And we're out of time. We had a good run. Time to go." Chief Adams ordered.

"But Sir, if left unchecked the core will go critical and explode, we won't stand a chance unless someone stays behind to keep the core in check."

"But that's a death sentence. There's no way anyone could do it and make it off in time."

"I can do it, I can make the necessary adjustments it'll only take me a few minutes and I'll have enough time to make it off the ship." Tali offered.

"You can? I can't order you to do this. You're free to just walk away and no one will blame you." Adams asked incredulous.

"I can do it, just go and I'll take care of it." Tali confirmed.

Adams just nodded and motioned for everyone that it was time for them to leave.

Tali ignored them as she got to work patching up the core. After a few minutes of feverously manipulating her omni-tool she was finally satisfied that the core would hold and that it was time to leave. She made for the door when suddenly she felt herself crushed to the floor by a sudden weight falling from above. She made a few attempt to move and wiggle out from her new prison and found that she was stuck. She made a few more attempts to free herself before the crack to her head began to rear its ugly head.

"I guess this is it. Oh well." Tali thought resignedly.

* * *

At this exact moment Shepherd was sweeping the ship getting everyone he could out before the ship lost compression. He had only one last place to check before he could leave: the engine room. Making his way to the familiar door he keyed the door and… nothing. He tried again… no response.

"Bugger! Guess I have to do this the hard way." Shepherd cursed out loud.

Spying a piece of metal that would serve as a makeshift crowbar he picked it up and jammed it into the door to the engine room. He strained and grunted against the door and the servos in his armor screamed in protest. Just as he became certain he was fighting the impossible the door popped open sending flying to the floor. Pulling himself back up he made his way through the now open door. Looking around he saw nothing and was about to leave when his eye was caught by…

"Tali!"

"Oh, there you are. I was wondering if I was going to be able to see you one last time before… before… I never got to tell you… I may never get a chance now but before I… I go…"

"That's quite enough of that. You'll have plenty of time to tell me later after we're out of this mess." Shepherd cut her off, digging her out and picking her up.

"I… I love you." Tali whispered.

"I know and I look forward to you telling me exactly how much and why after we get out of here." Shepherd shot back.

Despite his burden Shepherd made his way to the remaining pods and found Doctor Chakwas loading the last of her medical supplies into it.

"I believe the order was abandon ship, not grab everything that isn't nailed down, Doc." Shepherd noted.

"Oh, and I suppose your years in medical school have given you the ability to cure injuries by simply wishing it were so?" Doctor Chakwas retorted.

"Point taken, I believe I have your first patient. Here." Shepherd said as he lay Tali down in the pod.

"Oh, she'll pull right through. Looks like a concussion, this is nothing compared to some of your escapades."

"Doc, more with the healing and less with the talking. Joker, where are you?"

"Sorry, Captain. Looks like I'm not going to make it. Can you make sure I get a nice shiny medal or maybe even a nice plaque."

"Oh no you don't, they only give plaques to nice well behaved soldiers. Not insubordinate pilots with more mouth than brains." Shepherd shot back as he made it to the elevator where Joker had collapsed.

"Wow, Captain. It's almost as if you actually care." Joker snarked.

"Are you kidding? Do you know how hard it is to find a decent pilot these days?" Shepherd shot back as he lifted Joker over his shoulder.

"Fuck! Did you really have to break _every_ bone in body?" Joker quipped as Shepherd set him down next to Chakwas.

"Another one for you, Doc."

Chakwas said nothing and Shepherd made his way to the entrance of the pod in order to get them on their way when a explosion sent him flying into the bulkhead across the room from him. At this exact moment Tali had more or less recovered from her earlier concussion.

"Where's Shepherd?" Tali asked.

Chakwas simply nodded over in his direction.

"Shepherd, hurry, we don't have much time." Tali said.

"I know but I'm not coming."

"Not coming? But there's plenty of room if you just…"

"Tali, I can't. I'm done for and there isn't time."

"What do you mean? What are you doing!?" Tali panicked.

"Making sure you live. Goodbye."

Shepherd opened his omni-tool and brought up the ship's computer.

Ship Decompression Imminent

_Strongly Recommend Evacuation_

Shepherd pressed a few buttons and the screen changed.

Warning: The ship reports that there is a significant loss of hull integrity and it is strongly recommend that you evacuate by way of escape pod. This command will jettison all unlaunched escape pods and you will be no longer able to leave the ship. Are you sure you want to do this? Y/N

Yes

Warning: You are strongly urged to enter an escape pod before activating this command. Are you absolutely sure you want to do this? Y/N

Yes

With that the pods sealed shut and rocketed away from the doomed ship. Tali shut her eyes wishing she were somewhere else when she heard the comm link in her suit turn on.

"Tali, you're the only one who can hear me right now. I just wanted to say goodbye. I know you probably hate me for leaving you like this. I can live with that just so long as you live to be able to hate me. I also wanted to say that I don't regret a single moment we had, even the awkward ones. I love you. I guess this is good-bye. Be happy."

At that was the last thing Shepherd ever saw, heard or knew.

* * *

"Today we come to honor a great man. Generous in deed and spirit. Today we honor a hero. Today we have lost one of our own. Remember him."

With that the Council departed leaving the assembled mass alone with Shepherd's statue. One by one the crowd left until only a suited figure was left.

* * *

"How long ahs she been there?" Ashley Williams asked.

"I don't think she's moved from that spot since the funeral." Joker said.

"You mean she's been standing there for over three days?" Williams asked in shock.

"Sure looks like it. I bet they could save a fortune if they attached a hose to her suit and just used her tears for drinking water." Joker joked.

"Must you make a joke out of everything? Poor thing." Ashley cringed.

"You do realize who you're talking to, right? They don't call me Joker for nothing."

"Why do I ask you these things?" Ashley replied.

"I don't know but we can't just leave her there. Come on."

They walked up to Tali who was sobbing uncontrollably in her suit.

"You know as far as deaths go drowning in your own tears is one of the lamer ones." Joker quipped.

"What do you care? Besides what have I got left anyway? It's not like there's a single soul who cares what happens to me anymore." Tali sobbed.

"That's not true, you're still got us and the rest of the crew." Joker replied sinking into nice mode.

"Oh, they'll be real supportive what with Shepherd dead and it all being my fault. If it weren't for me he'd be here instead of me like it should be. They probably hate me and I don't blame them." Tali sobbed.

"I know one person who doesn't blame you." Joker responded.

"Who?" Tali sniffed.

"He doesn't. You want to know how I know that?" Joker said.

"You couldn't possibly know that." Tali cried.

"I do and I know because he asked me to look after you." Joker retorted.

"He said that?" Tali asked hopefully.

"Well, he didn't say it outright but he didn't have to. I probably don't need to tell you that he was quite fond of you." Joker replied, "Come on, let's get you somewhere you can get some sleep. You look exhausted."

The three of them turned towards the transit terminal where they got a taxi to where Joker had a rental apartment.

Setting her down to sleep Ashley turned to Joker.

"I don't know why but seeing you be all nice to someone scares me. I'm afraid that I'm going to wake up and be in a foxhole in the middle of nowhere." Ashley quipped.

"Well, I can be nice if I need to be besides I wasn't lying when I said what I did. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have some idea what she was going through." Joker responded.

In the other room Tali had just drifted off to sleep and began to dream back to the man she now sorely missed.


	2. Tali in Distress

For what was quite possibly the first time in her life, Tali was lost. Granted, this wasn't all that unexpected as very few Quarians were allowed onto the Citadel and thus weren't all that familiar with it. This wouldn't have been problem if Tali hadn't just noticed she was being followed. It was at this moment that she realized that she might possibly be in trouble.

"Alright, little lady. You're going to come with me nice and slow or else your suit is going to spring a few leaks."

Yep, she thought, big trouble. Fortunately for her, the man holding a pistol to her head hadn't thought things through enough and had gotten too close. She took advantage of this mistake by driving her boot into the man's groin.

"Fuck! You little bitch! I'm going to splatter your brains all over the wall!"

By this time Tali had decided to take advantage of her opponent's distraction and lose him in a nice long chase through the wards. It would've worked too if she hadn't rounded the corner and caught a sledgehammer to the faceplate.

* * *

"… and that is why you never pick a fight with someone in crutches." Joker finished.

"Geez, you'd think the man would've considered the possibility that a crutch to the face tends to hurt." Shepard agreed.

"Apparently not but… Hey, hang on a sec." Joker concluded.

"What is it Joker?" Shepard asked.

"You know how Adams sent Tali out for parts to fix up the drive core?" Joker asked.

"Yeah, so? She's hasn't been gone that long. It's not long she could just go to the Alliance for the parts. They're out, which is why we sent her in the first place." Shepard snarked.

"Yeah, well she just dropped off the grid." Joker responded.

"Dropped off the grid? How do you drop off the grid? She's not Houdini, after all." Shepard replied.

"She's literally gone, her signal just up and disappeared." Joker answered.

"Hmm, I'll check it out. Anyone still on the ship that's not on shore leave?" Shepard asked.

"Nope, there's only Alenko and he's in Med Bay. Something about his implant acting up again." Joker replied.

"Right, well give me where her signal disappeared and I'll check it out. It's probably a glitch or something." Shepard responded.

"Hang on, one second. And there, I've uploaded the location to your HUD." Joker finished as Shepard walked towards the airlock.

* * *

As Shepard approached the objective marker he couldn't help but feel a bit ill at ease. It didn't take long for him to justify this feeling as he got closer.

"Uh, Joker? Are you sure this is right?" Shepard radioed in.

"Yeah, you're pretty much right on top of where her signal disappeared. Why?" Joker asked back.

"Well, I may have watched too many movies but I don't do seemingly abandoned warehouse. They never are. Are you absolutely sure this is it?" Shepard asked again.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Commander. I meant to send you to the creepy semi-abandoned warehouse on the other side of town." Joker snarked back.

"I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" Shepard asked rhetorically.

"You always do." Joker joked back.

"Best get it over with, then." Shepard signed off as he grabbed his shotgun and headed inside.

* * *

Shepard became increasing glad in his choice of weapon when he noticed that the interior of the warehouse was stacked with cargo containers with room for about two people standing shoulder between them. Shepard was getting more and more concerned about not finding Tali when he heard two voices nearby.

"How much do you think we'll get for this one?" One asked.

"Quite a hefty bundle I'd wager, she's quite a looker for a Quarian." Two responded.

"What does the boss even want with this one, anyway?" One replied.

"Hey, I don't ask. Just take the credits and don't think about it too hard. People who ask too many questions have a funny way of attracting bullets." Two responded.

At this point Shepard had found the pair, both of them Turians. To their credit they noticed him almost immediately.

"Hey, you're not supposed to be in here. How'd you even get past the guards anyway?" One confronted him.

"Guards? As in plural? You had guards?" Shepard chuckled.

"I told you those guys were worthless. Why did you even hire them in the first place?" Two complained.

"Uh, guys. I hate to interrupt but I'm on a bit of a clock here. So if we could hurry things along and get to the part where you hand over my crew member I'd appreciate it." Shepard interrupted.

"I'm afraid we can't let you do that." One replied as he radioed for help.

_Well, shit._ Shepard thought, _Well as long as Tali is… Oh no they didn't!_

At that exact moment all hell broke loose.

* * *

At that exact moment Joker has been cooling his heels waiting for Shepard to return when Gunnery Chief Williams came up behind him.

"Say, you wouldn't happen to know where the Commander is, would you? I've got a shipment of weapon mods and I was wondering where he wanted me to put them." Williams asked.

"He went to find out why Tali's suit beacon disappeared and he should be back any… second… now?" Joker trailed off.

"Is that what I think it is?" Williams asked.

"If it's the Commander going medieval on a group of mercs then yes, it's exactly what it looks like." Joker replied.

"Did he just… did he just punt a Turian while sticking a grenade to his chest?" Williams asked in shock.

"Oh man, what I wouldn't give for some popcorn right about now." Joker exclaimed.

"What do you say we make things interesting? Say, 1,000 credits that he needs us to bail him out?" Williams said as she saw the Turian in question explode into a pair of mercs.

"I'll take that bet. 1,000 credits that he doesn't." Joker responded.

At that they both returned to watching the screen in front of them intently.

* * *

"Utterly average, what a disappointment. So tell me how were you planning on dealing with the extremely pissed off Spectre whose crew member you just kidnapped?" Shepard asked.

"Spectre? You're a Spectre? Fuck me! Take her, just take her. I'm not getting paid enough to have a Spectre hunting my ass." One panicked.

"Glad you saw reason." Shepard quipped as he knocked him out.

At this exact moment Shepard heard a weak voice coming from the corner of the room.

"Shepard? Is that you? You-you came for me?" Tali asked as if shocked.

"Yeah, it's me. Don't worry, I'll get you to Doctor Chakwas so she can fix you up." Shepard said as he got on the radio, "Joker, tell the Doc that she's got a patient that's going to need her immediate attention."

"You got it, Commander." Joker responded.

"And Joker?"

"Yeah, Commander?"

"You owe me 500 creds."

"What the? How the hell did he?" Joker wondered out loud.

* * *

"Commander, if you keep that up you're going to wear a hole straight through the hull. I don't think Joker would appreciate that in the slightest." Ashley joked at Shepard.

Shepard stopped for a moment, looked up at her, then continued pacing.

"It's not your fault, you know. It wasn't like you could've guessed that she would've been kidnapped by a slaver gang." Ashley continued.

"It is my fault, I let her go out there, by herself. Even knowing how people feel about Quarians in general, I let her go out there without backup." Shepard shot back.

Ashley was about to respond when Doctor Chakwas came out of the Med bay.

"Commander, she's going to be fine. She'll be a sick for a few days but, fortunately for her, her face plate absorbed most of the impact so she might get some bruising. She was lucky that the people who grabbed her knew enough to inject her with plenty of immune system boosters." Chakwas told Shepard.

"Thanks, Doc. I'm glad that Tali is going to be ok." Shepard answered back.

"Commander is there somewhere she might be able to rest. I wouldn't ask normally but with most of the crew on shore leave I'm going to need every bed I can for when they return." Chakwas asked.

"Sure, she can sleep in my quarters." Shepard agreed.

Shepard went in and carried Tali towards his quarters. All the while Ashley gave Doctor Chakwas a knowing smile.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you, Doc?" Ashley asked.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Miss Williams." Chakwas said.

"You and I both know that you had more than enough beds for the occasional crewmember needing medical attention." Ashley retorted.

"In this profession, you learn to look out not only for physical ailments but emotional ones. All I really did was give him an outlet for him to work out his guilt over the situation." Chakwas smiled.

Ashley just chuckled, and shook her head as she walked back towards the cargo bay.

* * *

Shepard was just finishing up some paperwork when his attention was drawn to the sound of groaning behind him.

"Hey, look who finally decided to join us." Shepard quipped.

"Shepard? Where am I? And why does it feel like I got hit by a sledge hammer?" Tali asked groggily.

"That would probably be because as near as I can tell you were hit with a sledge hammer." Shepard answered back.

"Where is this and what am I wearing?" Tali asked in return.

"Well, you would be in the Captain's Quarters. As for the suit, well, your old suit got jacked up pretty much beyond repair. So, while you were out, I went to the liberty of getting you a new suit, I hope you don't mind." Shepard answered her.

"New suit? Wait if I'm wearing the new suit then that means…" Tali trailed off and Shepard swore he could see her blushing fiercely.

"No need to worry, I did not see anything scandalous in the slightest. It took a bit of doing but Chakwas managed to rope Chief Williams into helping her get you changed out of your old suit and into this one. We also saved the old suit since it seemed like a waste to just chuck it." Shepard explained.

"What exactly happened to me, anyway? One moment a man is chasing me and the next thing I know I'm here." Tali questioned him.

"As near as I can tell the men who grabbed you were part of a slaver gang and figured that since you were a Quarian that it meant easy money since no one would come looking for you." Shepard told her.

"But you came for me? But why? I'm not even an official member of your crew." Tali asked.

"What? I need a reason to come to the rescue of a damsel in distress?" Shepard joked, "But in all seriousness you're a member of my crew and it doesn't matter if your Quarian, Turian or Batarian. I take care of my own."

"Keelah, I'm such an idiot. I didn't mean to suggest that I didn't think… that you would've… I… I've got a thing… in the engine core… some calibrations… tests that need running. I should go." Tali said as she got up to leave.

"Sure thing, Tali. I'm just glad you're ok." He said to he retreating form.

_She is so cute when she gets nervous like that. Wait, what?_, Shepard thought.


	3. Therum

_Keelah_, Tali thought, _He's just your Captain, why are you getting all worked up over the fact that he came after you. He said it himself; he'd do the same for any member of his crew. So, why so hot and bothered about it?_

"Uh, Tali? I'm glad you're back and all but are you sure you're ok?" The engineer she was working with asked her.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Tali asked, slightly annoyed.

"Well, you're tightening the hell out of that bolt." The engineer gulped.

"Oh, sorry." Tali said as she released the bolt in question.

_Besides_, the rational part of her brain continued, _you are aware that he's human and that you're Quarian, right? And that any physical relationship would most likely end up with either you in the hospital or dead of exposure? Regardless, have you seen how women look at him? You'd think he was the last man on Earth, or space as it were. This is most likely just a crush, you'll look back at this years from now and laugh,_ her rationality concluded.

At this moment, she had just finished helping the engineer next to her install the last piece into the drive core. As she stepped back to let the cover of the drive core slide back down she stepped over to the comm link to inform Joker that engines were back online.

* * *

"Thanks, Tali. We're good to go, Commander. Where to?" Joker turned to Shepard.

"Let's head to Therum and see about that scientist lady that may or may not try to kill us when we get there." Shepard said, half joking.

"You got it, Commander. I just hope the engines hold up this time, I'm telling you if they give out like they did leaving Noverian space, well let's just say we're asking to be hit by pirates at that point." Joker warned.

"Duly noted." Shepard agreed.

* * *

Tali had been doing random diagnostics to pass the time when she heard the door open behind her.

"Hey, Tali." Shepard said.

"Oh, Shepard. What are you doing down here? Did you need something?" Tali asked.

"Sort of. I came down here to see how you were holding up." Shepard said.

"Oh, you did? I felt like I never really ever properly thanked you for saving me, again. So thanks, and sorry for being such a burden what with you having to save me all the time." Tali answered.

"You're not a burden at all, trust me. By the way, we just assumed orbit around Therum to visit a Dr. T'Soni and I was wondering if I could count on your help with the Geth that are sure to be down there, what with you being our resident expert and all." Shepard asked.

"Oh, sure." Tali answered distractedly.

"Great, meet me in five at the air lock." Shepard replied as he turned and left.

It was just then that Tali was thankful for her armored prison as she was certain that she was blushing profusely and would have been worried about showing otherwise.

_This again? We've been over this. You're making more out of this than there is, he's only bringing you because there's Geth and on this ship you are the foremost expert on the subject_, her rationality kicked in again.

_Shut up,_ she told it.

* * *

"According to the coordinates Joker gave us, the dig site should be just over this hill. From there… from there…" Tali broke off as they proceeded on foot from the Mako.

"… Well, I can tell that this is going to be a doozy already." Shepard mused.

Garrus looked at him sideways, "If this is your idea of a doozy, I'd hate to see your idea of a problem."

Waiting in front of them was a small army of Geth supported by an Armature. Who immediately noticed them and drove them to cover.

"Tali, any ideas you have right now would be great." Shepard called out.

"Give me some covering fire and I should be able to hack a few and confuse the rest." Tali called back.

Shepard simply nodded and turned to Garrus and they both laid down a wall of fire that tore the head off of three Geth, crippled a third and took a fourth straight through the chest. Meanwhile, Tali peeked out from behind her rock and went to work hacking as many Geth as she could. By the time she was done, a good half of the Geth units were opening fire on their former allies wreaking plenty of havoc.

"Now, that's more like it. Now, to deal with the big guy." Shepard announced.

_Is he going to do what I think he is_¸ Tali wondered.

At that Shepard broke cover and made a beeline for the Armature. Garrus mandible popped open in shock as he stared in disbelief at what he was seeing. Shepard made it about half way to the armature before the Armature noticed him and started firing at him. Shepard started zigzagging until he only a few feet in front of the Armature then dropped into a slide and went beneath the belly of the Armature and slapped 4 grenades onto it. After sliding his way clear, Shepard detonated them and ripping the Armature apart taking the now dwindling Geth with it.

"Commander, was that really necessary, or were you just showing off?" Garrus joked.

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?" Shepard joked back, "Now let's get in here and grab this scientist before something worse shows up."

Garrus nodded his agreement and motioned for Shepard to led on as Tali quietly set in behind them.

* * *

_She's gorgeous_, Tali thought as an irrational sense of jealously settled over her, _Why so jealous, Tali? It's not like the two of you are dating._

'She' of course referred to the Asari now trapped in front of them in an impenetrable bubble. It seems that sometime between being trapped and their arrival that Dr. T'Soni had fallen asleep, probably out of exhaustion. Shepard loudly cleared his throat rather loudly.

"Huh, what? I'm awake. Wait, you're not the dig crew. Who are you and how did you get in here?" Dr. T'Soni asked.

"I'm Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy. I came here looking for you in the hopes you might be able to help us find your mother." Shepard answered.

"My mother? But we haven't talked in years. I'm afraid I may not be able to assist with your endeavor." Dr. T'Soni replied.

"Hmm, do you mind telling me how you managed to get yourself trapped in that contraption, Doctor T'Soni?" Shepard asked.

"Might I ask a small favor and have you call me Liara from now on? I prefer that to Doctor T'Soni. As for how I was trapped in here, well some Geth stumbled onto our dig site while the rest of the team was away and so I ran here hoping to raise the shield and keep them out. Unfortunately, it seems that in doing so I pressed something I shouldn't have and must have triggered some sort of defense mechanism. Unfortunately, the only way to disable it is from the control console next to me. You'll have to find a way through." Liara responded.

"All right, hang on. I'll think of something." Shepard promised.

"Shepard, that shield is impenetrable and I can't hack it from here." Tali piped up.

"I don't think that is going to be necessary. I have an idea…" Shepard responded.

* * *

Liara nearly jumped out of her skin, or would have if she weren't immobilized, when she heard a loud rumbling in the rocks around her. The rumbling stopped as quickly as it started and soon she heard clanking behind her, which she took to mean that Shepard had succeeded and was proven right when she dropped back to the ground.

"I'm certain you have plenty of questions you want to ask, but I ask that you hold them until we get back to my ship." Shepard told her.

Liara nodded in agreement and stepped onto the elevator after him and proceeded upwards. They were then greeted by a Krogan flanked by a pair of Geth.

"Thank you so much for retrieving the good doctor for us. Now if you would be so kind as to hand her over so tha…" The Krogan said, as he was interrupt by a shotgun blast to the head.

Both Garrus and Tali looked at Shepard.

"What? My hand slipped." Shepard justified.

Garrus and Tali simply shrugged, suppressing a chuckle, as they put down the two Geth and continued on. At this exact moment there was a loud rumbling and the ground started to shake.

"Whatever you did must've triggered a seismic event. We need to get out of here right now." Liara explained.

Shepard nodded, "Double time, people."

The group broke into a dead run as Shepard radioed Joker for a pick up. Tali just barely managed to dodge a rather large rock but in so doing stumbled and fell on her face. Shepard bolted past her but doubled back, scooped her up and kept running. They all made it to the Normandy just in time before the entire mess collapsed.

Shepard put Tali down and rushed over to Joker.

"Joker, get us out of here and now." Shepard ordered.


	4. Feros

"Too close, Commander! Another ten seconds and we would've been swimming in molten sulphur. The Normandy isn't equipped to land in exploding volcanoes. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull. Just for future reference?" Joker snarked over the comm room intercom.

"We nearly died and your pilot is making jokes?" Liara asked in genuine shock.

"Joker pulled our asses out of the fire, quite literally as it turns out, he's earned the right to a few bad jokes. Besides the Normandy is his baby, he's understandably a bit pissed that we might've ended up hurting her." Shepard elaborated.

"Oh, I guess it must be a human thing." Liara quietly mused.

"Now, I'm sure you have some questions for me and I did promise that I would try to answer them. Have at it." Shepard responded.

"I don't mean to sound ungrateful but exactly what are you doing out here? I can't figure out for the life of me why you even came here." Liara asked.

"We came here for you." Shepard stated.

"For me? But why?" Liara asked in surprise.

"Well, it's less about you and more the fact that your mother happens to be Matriarch Benezia. Who just so happens to be connected to a Geth attack on Eden Prime." Shepard told her.

"She's working with Geth? I haven't spoken to my mother in years, but Geth? There must be some mistake, she would never do something like this. There must be some explanation." Liara stalled.

"We were hoping you might be able to shed some light on it, being her daughter but unfortunately it seems we know about as much as you do. Any idea why she or Saren might be after you?" Shepard asked.

"Saren too!? Goddess above! No, I'm an expert on Prothean civilization and I don't see what good that would do the Geth." Liara exclaimed.

"Prothean civilization? Did you happen to find anything interesting?" Shepard prompted her.

"Nothing too ground-breaking though there is not nearly enough Prothean artifacts or architecture for a galactic civilization as advanced and widespread as theirs." Liara responded.

"What do you mean?" Shepard blinked.

"For a civilization as advanced as theirs, Prothean technology and architecture is far too rare for it to be pure chance. It's almost as if someone came behind them and destroyed as much evidence of their existence as they could." Liara explained.

"Why would someone do this?" Shepard asked.

"I'm not sure but what I do know is that it's extremely probable that whoever did this has done it before, possibly many times. Under normal circumstances, when a culture tries to destroy or suppress another there's almost always bits and pieces they miss, a building here, an archive there. Not here, there's absolutely nothing like that that has been found to date, it's too methodical to be pure chance." Liara concluded.

"I may not be able to explain the why but I may be able to give you a who. I think that the Protheans were destroyed by an ancient machine race called the Reapers." Shepard announced to her.

"Reapers? But that's… How do you know this?" Liara demanded.

"At Eden Prime a construction crew found a Prothean beacon, on it was some sort of vision. It was a little unclear and I'm still trying to puzzle it out but I think that it's a warning of some kind about the Reapers." Shepard told her.

"Commander, I may be able to help you understand it if you would permit me to meld with you." Liara requested.

"Whoa, hang on a damn minute! You just got on this ship and now you want to play hide and seek in his brain? How do we know you're not some sort of sleeper agent sent to assassinate the commander?" Ashley shouted in protest.

"If she has been sent here to kill me, she hasn't been doing a very good job as she had ample opportunity to do it planet side during the earthquake we had with no one being the wiser. Besides, we need to know what we're up against, I'm going to have to risk it." Shepard placated her.

"Your call, Skipper. But for the record I think this is a really bad idea." Ashley fumed.

"What do I do?" Shepard asked Liara.

"Simply empty your mind. Embrace Eternity!" Liara said as her eyes turned ink black.

The two of them stood still for a few seconds until Liara's eyes popped open and she staggered back.

"That's… But how…" Liara stammered.

"Are you ok?" Shepard asked in concern.

"I'm fine, I just didn't expect that. I've been looking for these answers for decades and to just have them handed to me like this. I wasn't prepared for it." Liara replied.

"Decades? Just how old are you exactly?" Kaiden asked.

"I'm only 106." Liara stated matter-of-factly.

"Damn! I hope I look that good when I'm your age." Ashley exclaimed.

"By most races standards I may seem old but my people's standards I'm little more than a child." Liara explained.

"Can you give us any help on my vision?" Shepard prompted.

"I'm afraid not, it was incomplete and on top of that it was meant for a Prothean mind. Without their inherent cultural understandings and the ability to speak and understand their language I'm afraid decoding it will be almost impossible. Unless we can get some sort of… oh." Liara stumbled.

"Are you ok?" Shepard asked.

"I think so but I don't think being in that machine did me any good and I probably should not have melded with you as I was. It's likely little more than mental exhaustion." Liara replied.

"Regardless, have Doctor Chakwas check you out. She should have you feeling better in no time. Have Kaiden take you." Shepard nodded.

"I think I will. Thank you, Commander." Liara nodded as she followed Kaiden out.

"Ok, dismissed." Shepard told everyone.

"Commander, you have a call from the Council. Want me to patch it through to the comm room?" Joker asked over the intercom.

"Yeah, send it in." Shepard replied.

"Commander, we just received your report. I'm glad that no one was injured." The Asari councilor greeted.

"But was it really necessary to destroy a priceless Prothean structure?" The Turian councilor accused.

"Unfortunately, it was either that or let the Geth capture the good doctor. I don't have to tell you how big a problem that would've been." Shepard shot back.

"Of course not, Commander. While my colleague's concern is noted the mission must come first. But is it really advisable to bring her aboard?" The Salarian councilor asked.

"Under normal circumstances I would agree but Saren wants her. And badly. The safest place for her right now is on the Normandy since Saren can't easily send someone to do a smash and grab, it also means that if he wants her, he has to come to me." Shepard replied.

"Using her as bait? I see, that might just work." The Salarian councilor agreed.

"Shepard, do you mind explaining to us exactly why you've ignored Feros until now? We've nearly reached the limit of our ability to control the ability of this information to get out. Do you have any idea of the panic that would be caused by a second Geth attack outside the Veil? I hope you have a good explanation for us." The Turian councilor raged.

"It's quite simple, Feros is obviously a trap. Either that or a decoy, Feros isn't Saren's real objective. He was hoping to draw me there by an attack on a human colony while he had his followers capture Doctor T'Soni and get the location of the Mu Relay from Noveria. Now that he's been stopped at those two places I can safely deal with the Geth on Feros." Shepard calmly explained.

"Fine, but whatever you do. Do it fast, we do not need another incident like Eden Prime getting out. People are already panicked enough as it is." The Turian councilor repented.

"Good luck, Commander." The Asari councilor concluded as she terminated the connection.

"Joker, plot a course for Feros." Shepard ordered over the intercom.

"You got it, Commander." Joker replied.

* * *

Tali had made her way back down to the engine room for her usual routine when she was interrupted by the sound of the door opening behind her.

"Oh, Chief Adams. I was hoping to…?" Tali cut off as she turned around and saw who it was.

"Sorry to disappoint you?" Shepard joked.

"What? No, I just thought… How can I help you, Shepard?" Tali recovered.

"I just came down to see how you were doing, you took a pretty nasty fall down there. I just wanted to see if you were alright." Shepard answered.

"Oh, I'm fine. These suits might not look it but they can stand up to pretty much anything since they're supposed to allow us to perform hull repairs we may need to perform. A few large rocks wouldn't hurt it all that much, I'm more likely to be crushed than to die of an infection if that's what you were wondering. Oh, dear. I'm not helping any, am I?" Tali panicked.

"It's alright. As long as you're ok. We're heading to Feros, there are reports of Geth and I would appreciate your help down there if you're up to it." Shepard replied.

"Anything for you…r crew." Tali added at the last moment.

Shepard lifted a curious eyebrow but simply smiled and went back to his quarters for some much needed rest.

_You boshtet! Why the hell did you say that? Now he's going think you're going weird on him! This is going to come back to haunt you, mark my words_, Rationality piped up.

Tali simply sunk her head in embarrassment and went back to work.

* * *

Shepard was not happy. Upon landing on Feros Shepard discovered that the Geth had been engaging in a wholesale slaughter of every man, woman, child on Feros. Fortunately, they had been having significant trouble making it into the colony proper and as Fai Dan had explained the Geth were concentrated around the ExoGeni headquarters.

Which left the problem of actually getting there, as the highway there was wide-open with absolutely no cover. Trying to make it there on foot was asking for a shot to the face.

"Joker, could you do us a favor and drop off the Mako at our location?" Shepard radioed in.

"Sure thing, Commander. I should probably warn you that the ExoGeni compound just went completely dark." Joker radioed back.

"What do you mean by 'dark'?" Shepard asked.

"It's like it disappeared. No radio chatter, no Extranet activity, not even so much as a power signature." Joker replied.

"Thanks for the heads up, Joker." Shepard signed off.

At that moment the Mako appeared from above and landed in front of them.

"Well, shall we?" Shepard asked rhetorically as he, Tali and Garrus got into the Mako.

"Look, I don't care if Gandhi himself came back from the grave and told you to not let anyone in. I'm going in there and there's nothing you can do about it. Now are you going to give me the master code or am I going to have to shove my shotgun so far up your ass that they'll need a neurosurgeon to remove the slugs?" Shepard threatened Ethan Jeong.

"Fine! Take it! Take it! But don't think you'll get away with this. The Alliance will be hearing about this, I promise you." Jeong threatened back.

"The Alliance? Are you fucking kidding me? Do you have any godly idea who I am? I'm a Spectre, which means that you can kiss my ass for all I care." Shepard raged back.

Ethan Jeong simply shrunk back at this, clearly defeated.

"Let's get out of here. We still need to find that employee." Shepard said, mostly to himself.

* * *

"Miss, are you all right?" Shepard asked Lizbeth Baynham after he had confirmed that all the varren had been dealt with.

"Yes, I'm fine. Did my mother send you?" She asked.

"Yes, she did but if you don't mind me asking but what exactly are you doing here?" Shepard asked back.

"In case the suit wasn't a hint, I work here." Lizbeth answered back.

"I can see that but why didn't you leave with the rest of the ExoGeni staff?" Shepard asked again.

"Honesty, I didn't know everyone was gone until the power went out and at that point I had to worry about not being found by the Geth." Lizbeth replied.

"Miss, don't insult my intelligence. I find it extremely hard to believe that you happened to miss the commotion of an entire building being evacuated." Shepard shot back.

"Alright, alright. I was trying to contact someone to warn them about ExoGeni's experiments." Lizbeth admitted.

"Experiments? Why would anyone care that ExoGeni was performing experiments? Isn't that kinda what they do?" Shepard asked in confusion.

"Not when these experiments involve the Thorian." Lizbeth responded.

"Thorian?" Shepard simply repeated.

"It's some new life form we found when we were excavating some of the old ruins. I don't know all of the details but apparently it's able to control sentient life forms through some kind of spore that it releases. ExoGeni wanted to see if it could somehow harness it and use it for cheap labor." Lizbeth explained.

"Shepard, that colonist…" Tali piped up.

"I know, and I think this would explain it." Shepard replied.

"Shit, the colonists are starting to show symptoms? We don't have much time." Lizbeth exclaimed.

"No, we don't. But we still need to deal with the Geth here. Our APC is parked outside, get inside and wait for us to return." Shepard suggested.

Lizbeth simply nodded and ran off in the direction of the Mako.

* * *

"Listen, you stupid machine. Give me what I want or I will blast your virtual ass into actual dust!" The Krogan battlemaster raged.

"Please contact IT in order to get level 4 clearance. If that is all, please move as there is a queue forming for this terminal." The VI informed him.

"What? Oh, good! I really need to kill something!" The Krogan yelled.

With that the Krogan charged and Shepard simply moved to the side and took him out with a shotgun to the back of the head as he passed.

"Welcome to the ExoGeni network. Query?" the VI asked.

"Tell me about the Thorian." Shepard requested.

"I'm sorry but that information is classified to those without level 4 clearance." The VI informed him.

"This is a pain. Spectre priority override." Shepard responded.

"Please standby... Identity confirmed, Spectre level access granted." The VI responded.

"Tell me about the Thorian." Shepard asked again.

"Accessing… Classification: Thorian. Species: Unknown. Age: Unknown. Suspected to pre-date Prothean civilization. Details: Found beneath colony of Zhu's Hope. Believed to use sentient thralls as work force. Releases spores believed to be responsible for controlling its thralls. File ends." The VI recited.

"Oh my god, those colonists are all under its control. We need to get down there and stop it." Shepard exclaimed.

"Egress currently impossible. Geth force field currently obstructs only available exit. Searching for alternative solutions. Found. Force field currently powered by drop ship. Scan show that drop ship is docked nearby. Transmitting location to your hardsuit." The VI announced.

"Well, let's get rid of this drop ship and so we can save those colonists." Shepard said.

"After you, Shepard." Garrus replied.

* * *

"Well, that was easier than I thought." Shepard said as the hydraulic door sheared off the drop ship's landing arm.

A few seconds later, the group heard a large explosion that could only have been the drop ship's demise. With the Geth dealt with the group headed back to the entrance and found a strange sight greeting them.

"What the hell is that thing?" Shepard wondered out loud.

"Accessing… Classification: Thorian Creeper. Origin: Unknown. Details: Thought to be created by the Thorian to defend its lair. Hostile to sentient life forms not under Thorian control. Lacks higher cognitive functions. Recommendation: Shoot to kill." The VI piped up from behind them.

"Don't mind if I do." Shepard said as he opened up on the Creeper, "Let's go!"

The group raced to the Mako and got in before the Creepers caught up to them.

"Garrus, man the turret. Tali, drive us back to the ExoGeni outpost." Shepard ordered as they both complied, "Joker, do you read me?"

"Thank god, Commander. I've been trying to reach you. I don't know what's going on out there but the colonists just went nuts. They're clawing on the hull trying to get in, I closed the airlock so they shouldn't be able to get in but you're on your own, Commander. Orders?"

"Fire a warning shot or two over their heads, hopefully that'll be enough for them to get an attack of common sense." Shepard responded.

"Understood. I'll get Williams to keep an eye on them." Joker replied.

"Tell her to put on a breather mask." Shepard order.

"Ok, but why? The air here is fine." Joker asked confused.

"Not exactly, I can't go into details but there's something down here controlling the colonists using spores." Shepard elaborated.

"Roger. Understood, Commander." Joker signed off.

* * *

"You son of a bitch! You knew! You fucking knew, didn't you?" Shepard raged at Jeong.

"Knew what?" Jeong asked.

"Don't play fucking stupid with me, you piece of shit! You knew about the Thorian and didn't tell anyone because you wanted to see the effect it had on the colonists." Shepard accused.

"This is insane, you have no idea what you're talking about." Jeong screamed.

"I'm not done, so just sit down and listen. You found out that the Thorian was able to control it's victims and decided you wanted to see if you could apply it and get free labor out of it." Shepard raged.

"How did you…" Jeong sputtered.

"I'm a Spectre, remember? Your little VI was quite helpful once I busted out my credentials. I know all of your dirty little secrets." Shepard yelled at him, "Give me one reason why I shouldn't shoot your brains out."

"Because if you kill me you don't leave here alive. My guards would shoot you on sight." Jeong threatened.

As if on cue Jeong's guard grabbed their weapons and moved towards Shepard. In response, Tali brought up her omni-tool and started punching away while Garrus trained his sniper rifle on one of the guards. Thinking better of it the guards retreated and stayed where they were.

"Wrong answer, but I think it would be much more fun to see you rot in a Council prison. I want this man placed under arrest until the Alliance gets here." Shepard demanded.

"I will see to it personally, Commander Shepard. On behalf of my colleague I want to apologize and I want to make it up to you. I understand you need to get down to the Thorian. I have an alternative to killing the colonists to get to it. I recently discovered that ExoGeni developed this compound that targets the nervous system of affected hosts. It was originally intended to suppress an uprising by the Thorian influenced colonists but it should work to knock out the colonists once I modify it to work with your grenades." Juliana Baynham promised.

"Well, let's get that compound and get back to the colony." Shepard grumbled.

* * *

"I just hope this works. Here goes." Shepard said to himself as he threw the first grenade.

The grenade worked as advertised, as promised it knocked out the brainwashed colonists without doing any permanent damage.

"Here, split up and take care of the rest." Shepard said as he handed grenades to Garrus and Tali.

Shepard himself headed towards the crane. He had just reached the controls to move the cargo container from over the Thorian's lair when he saw movement from the corner of his eye.

"Fai Dan? What… What the hell are you doing?" Shepard asked in a panic.

Fai Dan was walking towards him with a gun to his own head.

"It… It wants me to stop you. But I won't!" Fai Dan said as he pulled the trigger.

"Fai Dan! DON'T!" Shepard said as he threw one of his grenades.

But it was too late and Fai Dan fell to the ground, lifeless.

"SHIT! SHIT! FUCK!" Shepard screamed in rage as he punched a nearby building leaving a rather sizable fist-shaped dent.

"Shepard, we took care of the rest of the colonists." Tali said, until she saw the body.

"What happened?" She asked.

"The Thorian did. Let's go." Shepard sulked as the crane moved the cargo container.

* * *

"This could be… problematic." Shepard exclaimed.

"What are you… Oh. I'm not sure we're equipped for this." Tali exclaimed.

"I'm not sure they make a weed whacker for dealing with evil plants plotting galactic domination." Shepard snarked.

"Well, it is a niche market, I'm told." Garrus joked.

"Let's get this over… What was that?" Shepard cut off.

"Is that an Asari?" Tali asked in shock.

"The Thorian demands that you be in awe. It sees you only as meat, hands and tools for digging." The Asari greeted them.

"And it has quite the mouth on it, too." Shepard said, "We don't mean you any harm."

"The Thorian is no fool. One came before you and said the same thing. We will not be fooled." The Asari replied.

"Someone was here before us? What did Saren want?" Shepard asked.

"The one you call Saren came seeking information about the Protheans. That one proposed a trade, the Asari you see before you was given in exchange for this information. But then it sent its thralls to kill us." The Asari answered.

"Look, perhaps we can work something out. Look just give me what Saren wanted and let the colonists go and we can be on our way." Shepard offered.

"The Thorian is no fool. Your predecessor already fooled it once. It shall not make the same mistake again." The Asari yelled as she attacked.

The three unloaded into the Asari and she fell to the ground perforated with holes.

"Great, I guess we have to improvise." Shepard said as he took out a creeper.

The three of them proceeded through the structure until they noticed an odd looking vine.

"Hmm, this is odd, you don't think this is part of the Thorian do you?" Shepard asked out loud.

"Maybe, but how does that help us?" Garrus asked.

Shepard said nothing but started shooting the vine, Tali and Garrus joined in wordlessly.

"No, no! Shoot the Giant Fuck Me Light!" Shepard yelled.

"What?" Tali asked in confusion.

"Shoot the glowing bit!" Shepard explained.

Tali and Garrus quickly adjusted their aim and there was a scream of pain from the middle of the room.

"Well, that did something. Let's look for the rest and get the hell out of here."

* * *

"Shepard, hurry up with that last vine. I don't know how much longer I can hold off these Creepers." Tali shouted at Shepard.

Shepard said nothing but threw a grenade that attached itself to the vine. It exploded and the Thorian screamed louder than it ever had before. The vine unhooked itself from the wall and before Shepard could react it grabbed him and began to slam him against the wall in rage.

"Shepard!" Tali screamed as she took aim at the vine.

"No! Keep… The… Creepers… Off… Me!" Shepard said between slams.

Tali reluctantly complied as Shepard pulled out his knife and began frantically stabbing the vine until it finally let him go and the Thorian let out a resounding scream of pain and collapsed into the depths of the ruins.

"Whew, it's a good thing I brought this along." Shepard said.

"Are you ok, Shepard?" Tali asked in a voice that oozed worry.

"I'll live, but I am going to be feeling this in the morning." Shepard replied.

There was a sound of a body falling to the ground and the group turned to see an Asari that was identical to the one from before except for the fact that she was blue instead of green. The group drew their weapons and cautiously walked up to her.

"Oh, thank the Goddess. I'm free! Thank you!" The Asari exclaimed.

"Uh, might I ask what you were doing inside the Thorian?" Shepard asked, confused.

"Saren came here looking for the Prothean Cipher so he could understand the beacon from Eden Prime. He traded me to the Thorian in exchange for it." The Asari replied.

"Uh, Miss…?" Shepard prompted her.

"My name is Shiala. I am or was a follower of Matriarch Benezia." Shiala replied.

"Ok, Shiala. Exactly what is this Prothean Cipher and how does it help Saren?" Shepard asked.

"The Cipher is the collective cultural memory of the Prothean race. Saren wanted it because the beacon was meant for a Prothean mind and without that Cipher any attempt to decode the message is pointless." Shiala explained.

"Well, so much for getting that Cipher. We just killed the only being capable of giving it to us." Shepard stated.

"Not entirely true. Saren gave me to the Thorian so he could get the Cipher by melding my mind with his. I can give you the Cipher in the same way as thanks for freeing me." Shiala offered.

"Shepard, I think this is a really bad idea. This feels like a trap." Tali stated out loud.

"Trap or not, I need that Cipher in order to find out what Saren knows and stop him before he does more damage." Shepard retorted, "I accept."

"Embrace Eternity!" Shiala cried out as she stared into Shepard's eyes.

Shepard stumbled back after a few seconds and collapsed. Tali immediately swept Shiala's feet from under her and pressed her shotgun to Shiala's head.

"What did you do to him? Start talking, you boshtet!" Tali raged at Shiala.

Garrus immediately knelt besides Shepard and pressed a few button on his omni-tool.

"Tali, she didn't do anything. Shepard's injuries caused this. Frankly, he shouldn't have been standing in the first place. We need to get him to the Normandy." Garrus told Tali.

"Fine, you're off the hook. Tali to Normandy, we're coming in. Tell Chakwas that Shepard is injured and needs immediate medical attention." Tali radioed Joker.

"Understood." Joker radioed back before signing off.


	5. Recovery

Anyone watching Tali would have easily picked up on the fact that she was nervous. Granted you couldn't tell a whole lot from her facial expression what with the faceplate in the way but the pacing and the fact that she was nervously wringing her hands was a dead give away. And anyone who knew her for at least five minutes knew that Tali didn't get nervous easily and the fact that she was pacing in front of the med bay door made it rather obvious what the source of her current worry was. Which was not going to be helped at all by what was going to happen next.

"I hope that suit of yours is space worthy." A voice called out from behind Tali.

"And why would that be?" Tali responded venomously back at Ashley.

"Because at the rate you're going it won't be long before you've worn your way through the hull." Ashley responded without missing a beat.

Tali simply glared not that Ashley would be able to necessarily tell. Which, much to Tali's confusion, caused Ashley to burst out laughing.

"That is so funny, he… he gave me the same look." Ashley chuckled.

"Who gave you the same look?" Tali asked, slightly put upon.

"The Commander did back after that incident with the slavers." Ashley said after she had finally calmed down.

This caused Tali to just freeze and it took a little bit before she realized that she was blushing furiously.

_What, why does that make me happy? Making Shepard worry about me? Am I really that shallow?_ Tali asked herself.

Before she could answer any of those questions Doctor Chakwas emerged from the Med Bay. Before she could even talk she was verbally ambushed by Tali.

"Is- is he going to be ok?" Tali asked, hoping she could keep the panic she was feeling out of her voice.

"He's going to be fine, they don't call me one of the finest Doctors in the Alliance for nothing. Whatever happened down there managed to break every single bone in his body, which, fortunately, is nothing that a creative application of medi-gel can't cure." Chakwas reassured her.

"Ca-can I see him?" Tali asked, hoping she didn't sound too eager.

"He's sleeping right now but if you just want to sit with him I don't see the harm." Chakwas allowed.

Tali practically dashed off to where Shepard was sleeping.

"Doc, is there something going on between them?" Ashley asked curiously.

"Well, not if you ask them but who are we kidding? Anyone with half a brainstem on this ship can see it." Chakwas replied.

"You didn't really answer my question. You know, why don't we make things interesting by putting money on it?" Ashley responded.

"That would be both unethical and immoral and so very very wrong." Chakwas gasped, "5,000 credits?"

"You're on." Ashley agreed.

* * *

Despite her eagerness earlier Tali couldn't help but feel terrified now.

_Oh, keelah. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. What if he hates me, not that I would blame him since it is kinda my fault he's like this in the first place. Or what if he thinks I'm ugly?_ Tali wondered.

_Ugly? What the hell is going on here? I leave for five minutes and you're back to get yourself all hot and bothered over a human? What the hell is wrong with you? Seriously!_ Rationality scolded her.

_Oh, come off it. Don't pretend you don't see what's going on here. You're head over heels for the dashing Commander who rescued you. Twice. And is trying to save the galaxy. No wonder you want to get horizontal with him._ Emotion popped up.

_WHAT!?_ Tali blanched mentally.

_You know, getting down and dirty, the horizontal Olympics, the naked tango, the hanky panky, getting hot and heavy, the-_ Emotion started ranting.

_I get the idea! And I do not want to nail him. He's my Captain, what are you? Nuts? That's just asking for a disaster of epic proportions._ Tali fired back.

Keep telling yourself that. It won't change the fact that you still do indeed want to get into his pants. Emotion countered.

Damn it, of all the time you have to have a valid point. Tali grudgingly admitted.

At this point Tali decided to split the difference and built up the courage to grab the chair next to Shepard's bed. She simply took hold of his hand and sat there for a while until everything eventually faded to black.

* * *

When Shepard finally came to he, two thoughts came to mind. First, ok whatever drugs the Doc has me on are making me see things. Second, I can't say that being manhandled by the Thorian like I was doesn't have its benefits. The benefit he was referring to was of course the fact that Tali had fallen asleep with her head on his chest. And Shepard was, for reasons baffling to him, overjoyed to hear her muttering his name in her sleep. This, of course, was too good to last as she then stirred and started to wake up. What Shepard said next surprised him just as much as it did Tali.

"Morning, gorgeous." Shepard cooed.

Oh, God. Did I just say that out loud? What the hell was I thinking? Come on, time for damage control. Think of something. Shepard panicked mentally.

"W-what? Y-you think…" Tali stammered.

"Well, granted, it might be the drugs talking at this point but it doesn't change facts." Shepard continued.

You idiot! That's even worse! Now, you're going to freak her out even more. I mean are you trying to hit on her with the old "Clarence Nightingale" routine? Oh, God. You are hitting on her, aren't you? Shepard's mind panicked even more, You're going to the special hell for sure. Excuse me, I have a hand basket to make now.

"You… you really think I'm beautiful?" Tali stammered in shock. Tali was certain that her jaw would've fallen out of her suit if it hadn't been for her faceplate.

"Well, if your eyes are any indication then the rest of you can't fail to be breath-taking." Shepard complimented her, with a courage he wasn't entirely sure was his own.

"B-but I never cause you anything but trouble. You've had to save me twice, so far. Every time you take me anywhere you run the risk that my suit will develop a puncture and make me sick. And now, I can't even return the favor and because of me you're here in this bed." Tali sobbed.

"Now, now. It's not quite that bad. And so what if I have to rescue you once every blue moon. It's totally worth it, especially considering how easy you are on the eyes." Shepard countered.

"But with the Thorian, I… I was no help at all. I failed you." Tali protested in tears.

"Come here." Shepard hugged her close to his chest, "That wasn't your fault. These things have a strange way of happening no matter how careful we are. Besides, it was totally worth it given how the recovery has been so far."

"But, you could have practically any woman in the galaxy. Why me? I mean, I'm not much to look at; I'm trapped in this damn suit. Children are out of the question; even a kiss could put me in the hospital or worse. I'm not worth it. You'd be much happier with someone who can give you all these things." Tali protested.

"Not to me. What can I say, I'm attracted to women with brains the size of a Dreadnought." Shepard countered.

"You give me far too much credit. There are plenty of women out there smarter than I am and I can assure you they don't have to worry about a leaky seal putting them in the hospital for a couple of weeks." Tali protested.

"Now, I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure I can figure out for myself what I want. And what I want just so happens to be you." Shepard responded.

"You- you're sure? I'm not much to look at, you deserve far better than me." Tali feebly insisted.

Shepard simply put a finger to Tali's mouthpiece and she simply smiled inside her suit.

"Doc, you can come out now. I'm fairly certain you had more than enough time to collect on your bet." Shepard teased out loud.

"Commander, I'm shocked that you would think so little of your person physician." Chakwas protested as she walked up to his bed.

"And yet I doubt you're going to tell me to my face that you didn't place money on us." Shepard answered back.

Doctor Chawkwas said nothing and grumbled to herself wondering how he always seems to know.

"Well, Commander. I'd say you're very lucky to be awake right now, not to mention in one piece. Now, I would tell you that you are relieved of duties for the next week or so but I'm not stupid and I know you're just going to ignore me. So, instead I'm confining you to your quarters and having Tali make sure you follow it." Doctor Chakwas informed the two of them.

"Thanks, Doc." Shepard said in a surprising show of cooperation.

At that Tali hooked Shepard's arm over her shoulder and grabbed him around the waist and the two of them made their way to his quarters.

* * *

After Tali had gotten Shepard situated and comfortable in his bed, Tali went to grab a chair when Shepard snagged her hand instead.

"You know, you are taking care of me, you know. I'm not so heartless as to make a cute, young thing as yourself sleep in a chair. Besides this bed has more than enough room for two." Shepard offered.

"But, Commander, what would the crew say if they knew their Captain was sharing his bed with a Quarian?" Tali teased him.

"Nothing, if they're smart." Shepard smirked.

"Well, if you think it's worth the risk." Tali jokingly acquiesced.

"You always are, my dear." Shepard smiled.

With that Tali slid under the covers next to him and snuggled up to her Shepard.

"Night, Shepard." Tali murmured.

"You know you have earned first name privileges as my girlfriend." Shepard smirked.

"Night, Darryl." Tali cooed as she nodded off.

"Night, Tali." Shepard said as he joined her.


End file.
